Dragging flat-bottomed assault boats toward the banks of the Roer River on February 23, 1945, engineers of the 84th Infantry Division, Ninth Army, prepare for a contested crossing in less than ideal conditions. Days of rain had turned the Roer into a torrent and prevented units of the Ninth Army from crossing on schedule during the opening phase of Operation Grenade. 

River to cross

U.S. soldiers carry an assault boat down to the Moselle river, to cross it at the commune of Dornot, France.

River to be crossed

Members of the 2nd Battalion, 11th Infantry, cross the Moselle river in an assault boat at the commune of Dornot, France; 1944.